Monday, 26 December 2016

Current Affairs -Indian IAS Academy module-3

The state-of-the-art surface-to-surface
missile was test fired successfully from the launch complex 4 of the Integrated
Test Range from the Abdul Kalam Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. It was the
fourth developmental and second canisterised trial of the missile.

Agni-5 missile

·Agni 5 is three-stage
solid propellant ICBM indigenously developed by the Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO).

· Unlike other missiles
of Agni series, Agni-5 is the most advanced having new technologies
incorporated with it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine.

·It is about 17 metre
long, 2 metre wide and has launch weight of around 50 tonnes. This is the
fourth developmental and second trial of the long range missile.

·The missile is capable
of striking a target more than 5,000 kilometres with nuclear warhead carrying
capacity of more than 1 tonne. Thus, it can hit most northern parts of China
and other parts of Asia, Europe and Africa.

· It has not yet inducted
into the Services. It carries Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry
Vehicles (MIRV) payloads.

·A single MIRV equipped
missile that can deliver multiple warheads at different targets. It is also
incorporates advanced technologies involving ring laser gyroscope and
accelerometer for navigation and guidance.

·Once this missile is inducted in Services,
India will join the super exclusive club of countries having ICBMs (missiles
with a range of over 5,000-5,500km) alongside the US, Russia, China, France and
the United Kingdom.

· The missile will enhance India’s strategic and
deterrence capabilities.

India has at present in its armoury of Agni series,
Agni-1 with 700 km range, Agni 2 with 2,000 km range, Agni 3 and Agni 4 with
with 2,500 km to more than 3500 km range. After some few more trials, Agni 5
will be inducted into the services.

Developed by the the Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the 17-metre long missile
can carry a warhead of 1000kg.

Being a ballistic missile,
Agni 5 can not be detected by most of radar systems presently in use by
defence forces across the globe.

Agni 5, which weighs about
50 tonnes, can target almost entire China and Pakistan. It can even reach
targets in Europe.

Pakistan has about 130-140
nuclear-capable missiles which include Shaheen and Ghauri series of
missiles which Islamabad has developed with the help of China and North
Korea. Pakistan, however, is yet to add inter-continental missiles to its
arsenal.

On the other hand, China has
a huge stock of nearly 250 nuclear missiles, including the (DongFeng) DF
series. Unconfirmed reports say the DF 31A missile has the capability of
striking targets over 10,000km.

The Agni 5 is the most
advanced version of the indigenously built Agni series, part of the
Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) that started in
the 1960s and was once overseen by late President APJ Abdul Kalam.

India joined the elite club
of countries like US, Russia, the UK, France and China, which boast
Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) capabilities, when it first
tested the Agni-V in 2012.

Agni 5's test launch is the
first such missile test since India joined 34-nation Missile Technology
Control Regime (MTCR) in July, 2016. MTCR membership enabled India to buy
high-end missile technology and also enhance its joint ventures with
Russia.

DRDO is also working on Agni
6, which will have far more lethal strirking capabilities than its
predecessor.

2.Scientists identify as world’s most
heat resistant materials

A team of UK-based
researchers have identified Hafnium carbide (HfC) and Tantalum carbide (TaC) as
the world’s most heat resistant material.

They can withstand
record melting point temperatures up to 3958°C (approx 4000°C). New
Laser-heating techniques were used to find the temperature at which TaC
and HfC melted, both separately and in mixed compositions.

Hafnium carbide (HfC)
and Tantalum carbide (TaC) are refractory ceramicse. they are extraordinarily
resistant to heat. Researchers found TaC melted at 3,768 degrees Celsius, and
HfC melted at 3,958 degrees Celsius. Besides, the mixed compound (Ta0.8Hf0.20C)
exceeded its previous recorded melting point.These materials at
present are mainly used in thermal protection systems

on high-speed vehicles
and as fuel cladding in the super-heated environments of nuclear reactors.

This discovery may pave
the way for improved heat resistant shielding for the faster-than-ever
hypersonic space vehicles.

It means that future spacecraft could become
more faster than ever. Currently hypersonic aircraft travelling above Mach 5 (5
times speed of sound) speed creates very high temperatures as friction is
involved when travelling this speed limit.

This means that these
materials will enable spacecraft to withstand the extreme heat generated from
leaving and re-entering the atmosphere.

3.India’s
first 2G Ethanol Bio-refinery to be set up in Punjab:-

The foundation stone of
India’s first 2G (Second Generation) Ethanol Bio-refinery was laid at
Tarkhanwala village in Bathinda, Punjab. Central Government Public Sector
Undertaking (CPSU) Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is setting up
this project at a cost of 600 crore Rupees.

HPCL’s bio-refinery
will produce 100 kilolitres of ethanol per day i.e. 3.20 crore litres per annum
from agricultural residues.

It will be sufficient to meet the 26% of the
ethanol blending requirement of Punjab. It will also produce about 30,000
tonnes of bio-fertiliser per annum to enhance soil nutrients.

It will also produce more than 1 lakh
kilograms of Bio-CNG per annum which can cater to transport and clean cooking
requirements.

It will generate employment for about
1,200-1,300 persons in the biomass supply chain. It will also generate an
additional income of approximately 20 crore Rupees per annum for farmers
through purchase of their agriculture residues.

The project will also
significantly help in reducing CO2 emissions from the paddy straw which
currently is being burnt after harvesting.

HPCL and other
state-run oil firms are planning to set up 12 2G ethanol bio-refineries across
11 states at an estimated cost of 10,000 crore Rupees.

These Bio-refineries
will be significantly contributing towards the Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP)
for achieving 10% Ethanol Blending in Petrol from current 5% by producing
around 35-40 crore litres of ethanol annually.

2nd generation ethanol
is a fuel that can be manufactured from various types of biomass. Whereas 1st
generation ethanol is made from the sugars and vegetable oils found in arable
crops, which can be easily extracted using conventional technology.

In comparison, 2nd
generation ethanol is made from lignocellulosic biomass or woody crops,
agricultural residues or waste, which makes it harder to extract the required
fuel using conventional technology.

Global biodiesel production was
around 4 million tons in 2006 and around 85% of biodiesel production came from
the European Union.

Jatropha Plant:-
Belongs to family Euphorbiacae, thus taxonomically related to Castor oil plant.
Resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil. In
India, Jatropha is known as Ratanjot shows resemblance with castor. Apart from
Ratanjot, about nine species are reported out of which JatrophaCurcus has
economic value by virtue of oil present in its seed. In 2006, the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research identified first ever Jatropha variety, SDAUJ
I (Chatrapati) with higher oil content and yield for commercial cultivation.
The seeds contain 49.2 per cent oil and the non-edible protein in defatted seed
case is 47.8 per cent. Farmers can get an average yield of 1000-1100 kg per
hectare under rainfed conditions.

The ICAR recommended it
for the semi-arid and arid regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan. It is drought
resistant and can be raised successfully in areas where annual rainfall is
300-500mm. The plant attains a height up to 8 feet and shows resistance to all
major pests.